ANAHEIM : Council to Consider Disney Plan, Budget

The City Council is scheduled to give final consideration to Disneyland’s proposed expansion Tuesday, as well as vote on a city budget for the coming fiscal year.

Also, Councilman Fred Hunter said he will propose at the meeting that council members no longer receive free tickets to games and concerts at city-owned Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim Arena and Anaheim Convention Center.

The public hearings on the Disney proposal and the budget have already been held, so no public testimony on either will be heard. Council discussion and a likely vote on the Disney proposal will be at a special session to begin at noon. The budget and ticket proposal will be discussed during the council’s 5 p.m. regular meeting.

The council will be voting on the Disney project’s environmental impact report. It is the last regulatory hurdle that the $3-billion project faces before construction may begin. The city and Disney are still negotiating a development agreement outlining each side’s financial responsibilities.

Proponents of the project--which calls for the addition of a second theme park, to be called Westcot, and up to six new hotels, a 5,000-seat amphitheater and two of the world’s largest parking structures--say it will provide jobs and a needed boost to the area’s economy. Opponents say it will crowd city streets and schools, be too costly to the city and create too much noise. They have threatened to sue the city and Disney if the project is approved.

In the evening, the council will grapple with its $589-million budget, including the difficult question of how to balance the $135-million general fund, which pays for basic city services such as police and fire protection, libraries and parks. The budget will cover the 1993-94 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The budget was reworked this past week because the council last Tuesday voted against extending a 2% utility tax beyond its scheduled Sept. 30 expiration. The tax demise will cost the city $6 million in the next fiscal year.

At the same meeting, the council also tentatively agreed that it will not cut the Police and Fire departments’ budgets by the combined $2.8 million that had been proposed. City Manager James D. Ruth said it will be necessary to dip into the city’s $15-million reserves to balance the budget, something he opposes. State and city law requires the budget to be balanced.

Hunter said that to help with the fiscal crunch, the city would be better off selling the free tickets it offers council members to each event at the city-owned stadium, arena and convention center. He wants the extra money to go into the city’s general fund to help balance the budget.

“I think we should have to pay for our tickets just like everybody else,” Hunter said. “The only exceptions should be if we are attending something where it is absolutely clear it is strictly city business and we are acting as city officials.”

City Hall is at 200 S. Anaheim Blvd.